Mike Elko Makes Fiery Demand For the Future of College Football

The college football world is one that is constantly changing, from NIL deals to the transfer portal to recruiting and constant rule changes, there are so many variables that shape a school's season.

As each collegiate conference has its own commissioner, there is no single commissioner over the entire realm of college football, which many have been calling for the implementation of.

And among those many included is Texas A&M Aggies head coach Mike Elko.

"Put Somebody in Charge"

In an interview with On3 Sports' JD PicKell on Monday afternoon, the Texas A&M coach wasted no time explaining what he would change about the sport's landscape when asked by the analyst.

"Put somebody in charge," said the head coach. "It's a $1.2 billion industry with not a singular voice in charge of it making decisions for the betterment of college football. I think until we get that, we're going to continue to flounder with some of those areas. What's best for the SEC isn't always what's best for the other conferences and what's best for the other conferences isn't always best for the SEC."

The current leadership of college sports is the conference's individual commissioners, who work with athletic directors and other school personnel to shape the season, but as they said, there is no one person in charge of the sport overall.

And with as heavily marketed the sport is now, and how well the ratings consistently are for college football games throughout the year compared to other sports, Elko does have a point, especially with continued debate between the conferences on aspects such as the College Football Playoff, such as the number of teams that should get in, automatic qualifiers, etc.

"At some point, we’re going to have to have somebody who’s capable of making rules regarding the betterment of college football, enforcement of rules and all of it," Elko continued. "Until we get that, I think we’re all at risk of this thing not lasting like we want it to last.”

Former Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nick Saba — Nick Saban on the ESPN College Gameday set during the 2026 Rose Bowl and quarterfinal game of the College Football Playoff at Rose Bowl Stadium. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Legendary college football head coach Nick Saban has also jumped on the boat in support of an overall commissioner and has even gone as far as to call the current state of the transfer portal "anarchy."

“There is no question about the fact that I think we need to have a commissioner who is over all the conferences, as well as a competition committee who defines the rules of how we're going to play the game, because that's what we don't have right now,” Saban said during an episode of College GameDay last season.

Virginia Tech head coach James Franklin and former Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy, both of whom lost their respective jobs last year after lengthy stints at their former schools, have also been vocal in expressing their desire for a single voice of college football.

“I think one of the most important things we can do is get a commissioner of college football that is waking up every single morning and going to bed every single night making decisions that are in the best interest of college football,” Franklin said before Penn State's Fiesta Bowl appearance in 2024.

Whether the sport has a ruler or not, Elko and the Texas A&M Aggies play host to Missouri State on September 5 to open the 2026 season.